Airplane



" Feb. 25, 1936. v. J.l BURNELL. 2,031,876

\ v AIRPLANE.

Filed Feb. 19, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR ATTQRNEY Feb. 25, 1936. v,J; BURNELLI 2,031,876

AIRPLANE Filed Feb. 19, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR tion willhereinafter appear.

Patented Feb. 25, 1936 UNITED STATES AIRPLANE Vincent J. Burnelli,Keyport, N. J., assigner to' Burnelli Aircraft, Ltd., a, corporation ofDela- Ware Application February 19, 1935, Serial No. 7,274

3 Claims.

V In military aircraft, such for example as bombe ers, it is desirablethat gun re' from rear cockpits may have a horizontal range through atleast 180 and a commensurate vertical firing range, for the completerear protection of the aircraft.

This feature is emphasized in the present application for amulti-engined bombing airplane of the Burnelli all-wing type.

My invention comprises these features:- The provision of booms extendingrearwardly, in spaced relation, from the supporting element, andcarrying the empennage, said booms each having a gunners cockpit, whichis in communication with the fuselage interior, so that the gunners canpass between said cockpits and fuselage. Also I provide in thisstructure a horizontal stabilizer, spanned between the booms andsupporting a single vertical stabilizer, with a. vertical rudder, and atail wheel, which may be retractible, that is pendent from saidhorizontal stabilizer, below said vertical stabilizer.

Other features and advantages of my inven- In the drawings:-

Figure 1 is a top plan view of my improved bombing airplane.

Fig. 2 is a front view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation, partly in vertical section.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged plan View, broken away and partly inA horizontalsection of the central portion of the-airplane.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional detail view of the empennage and tailwheel. l

Fig. 6 is a bottom plan view of Fig. 5, an

Fig. 7 is a front elevation thereof.

In said Views the supporting element is shownA as having the centralwing section I and the respective lateral wing sections 2. As known inthis Burnelli al1-wing type of airplane the upper surface of the entirewing is of substantially unobstructed airfoil contour, this also beingtrue of the wing under surface excepting that the central section I isdeeper than the lateral sections, thereby providing the side walls 3 forthe lower portion of said central section.

A pair of engine mounts 4 containing engines that are provided withpropellers 5 are shown as projecting forwardly from the leading edge ofwing section I, and a pilots cockpit portion 6 extends forwardly fromthe same leading edge, be-

tween the engine mounts, said portion 6 being further extended forwardlyto provide accommodation, indicated at l, for a forward gunner.

Booms 3 are shown as extending rearwardly from the central wing sectionI, said booms being spaced apart and merging with said central sectionin faired fashion, as at 9, into the upper surface of said centralsection. Said booms may, as indicated, be hollow and tapered rearwardly,and they are each provided with a gunners cockpit IIJ, it being anessential feature of my invention that means of communicationare'provided between the interior of each cockpit and the interior ofthe central wing section.

The means of intercommunication between the cockpits Ill and fuselageinterior are here indicated by clearances II provided through the uppersurface of the central wing section at those portions thereof which liewithin the hollow 15 booms 8, where such booms have their mergedrelation with wing section I. Gunners may easily pass through theseclearances and thus enter or leave the cockpits when passing from or tothe interior of the wing.

The usual pilots cockpitA is shown at I2, and

retractible landing gear at I3.

As will be noted in Fig. 4, bomb holding compartmentsare indicated atI4fuel tanks at I5 and a rear compartment at I 6.

. The arrows in Fig. 4 indicate passageways that lead between the winginterior, the pilots cockpit and the gunners rear cockpits.

'I'he booms 8, which are required to be hollow at their portionsextending forwardly of the cockpits I0, or at least to have passagewaysthat communicate between said cockpits and the wing interior, may or maynot be hollow in their rearward extension, provided said booms possessthe necessary qualifications for carrying the tail group or empennage.

Thus said tail group is composed of a horizontal stabilizer I1 which isspanned between and carried by booms 8 at their outer ends and theelevator I 8 is hinged to said stabilizer in the usual 40 manner. Asingle vertical stabilizer I 9 is mounted on stabilizer I 1, aided bythe reinforcement of ,struts 20, and a vertical rudder 2l is hinged tostabilizer I9. A retractible tail wheel 22 is shown as extendeddependingly from the horin trate the rangeof gun fire available from therr ar cockpits and it should be noted that the use of a single verticalstabilizer in its centrally disposed rearward position provides aminimum of interference in the ring field, as will be clearly apparent.

Variations 4within the spirit and scope of my invention are equallycomprehended by the foregoing disclosure.

I claim:

1. An airplane having a lift producing air-foilshaped body portion withan enclosed space therein, a pair of empennage carrying booms extendingrearwardly from said body portion, one at each side thereof, a gunnerscockpit located at the junction of eachboom with the body portion,horizontal control surfaces carried by said booms, and vertical controlsurfaces supported upon said horizontal control surfaces midway betweensaid booms whereby there will be an unobstructed range of re from eachgunners cockpit in excess of ninety degrees.

2. An airplane having a lift producing airfoilshaped body portion withan enclosed space therein, a pair of empennage carrying booms extendingrearwardly from said body portion, one at each side thereof, a gunnerscockpit located at the junction of each boom with the body portion andbeing partly located in the boom and partly in the body portion,horizontal control surfaces carried by said booms, and vertical controlsurfaces supported upon said horizontal control surfaces midway betweensaid booms whereby there will be an unobstructed range of re from eachgunners cockpit in excess of ninety degrees.

3. An airplane having a lift producing airfoilshaped body portion withan enclosed space therein, a pair of empennage carrying booms extendingrearwardly from said body portion, one at 'each side thereof, a gunnerscockpit located at the junction of each boom with the body portion,means of communication between each cockpit and the enclosed spacewithin said body portion, horizontal control surfaces carried by saidbooms, and vertical control surfaces supported upon said horizontalcontrol surfaces midy way between said booms whereby there will be anunobstructed range of re from each gunners cockpit in excess ofninety'degrees.

VINCENT J. BURNELLI.

